Iron Man: Manarin's Adventures
by crazytomboy78
Summary: The adventures of Howard Stark, a fragile middle-aged man being held captive and getting sicker by the day by an emotionally unstable teenager with a deranged quest for five more magical rings. And his name is Gene Khan. Rating MIGHT change later on.
1. Suffer Pt1

In a dark prison-like holding cell sat a quiet, frail old man. He cowered in the utter silence and darkness of the room, wondering what time it was and what day it was, and more importantly where his son was right now, and whether or not he actually wanted to know the answer to that question.

What had even happened to get him here was a complete mystery to the man alone. One minute he was talking with Obadiah Stane, a worker at his company, and the next there was a white light and he was being shoved in this hole by a sadistic and insane man in black metal armor (which to this day confused him. The man didn't understand the mechanics behind the boy's suit of ancient armor).

Then a tall figure stood over his cell, looming in a shadow a moment before revealing his true self, just a teenager.

"Old man," the boy started. The man looked up.

"You've heard of the Makluan Rings, haven't you?" He asked.

"Certainly," he admitted.

"Good, because you're going to help me find them." The boy demanded. The man looked up at the shadow's owner.

"What, you mean re-enter the real world? I thought I wasn't allowed up there." The man spat sarcastically. The boy was frustrated. He reached down the older man's cell and grabbed him by the shirt collar.

"Listen, Stark, you will either cooperate or die. And I know you want to see your son again so I suggest you don't choose to die."

"There's no way my son could have survived that plane accident..." Howard talked to himself.

"Not if he had a weapons-enabled suit of armor," The boy responded.

"What do you mean? Suit of armor?" Howard asked. He'd honestly never heard of such a thing.

"Preapre to leave, were going for the sixth temple tomorrow morning." Gene spat, walking away. Howard was left to think about all the possibilities of his son being alive with a weapons-capable suit of armor; whether the results were pleasing or not.

Ultimately, all it was was Howard getting more and more desperate to escape the clutches of Gene Khan, the deranged and mentally unstable teenager.

~…~

Howard was now very frazzled. Up until now he'd had the impression that his son had died in the plane crash that he had been taken from before an explosion could interfere, and now he discovers that his son is alive? The idea, for him, gave him some sort of hope for the future, some sort of bright side, or hope, that if he cooperated with the unstable teenager he could get out of this holding cell and reconnect with the life he'd so missed for the past…well, he wasn't exactly sure what day it was, or what time of day. He'd lost track of that a long time ago.

And if Tony was alive, then what did he think I was? Thought the man. Maybe he thinks I'm gone…surely he's getting Stark International when he's eighteen…just what is my boy going through?

This new knowledge sent the middle-aged captive's mind reeling. The very thought of his son being alive tortured him, because he knew of his son's tendency to pin the blame on himself and beat himself up for every little thing. The thought of this made him feel incredibly horrible, because he knew his son was probably being tortured being the only Stark left. He's got Rhodey as a friend, sure, but that's not nearly enough for the situation…

Howard kept thinking about this, and kept thinking about it for the rest of the night, until his thoughts sent him drifting into dreamland, where he had nightmares of what could possibly have become of his son, and what could possibly become of him once they start looking for the rings.

~…~

_There was a bright flash of light. There was a teenage boy strewed on the blank ground; covered in blood. Crying out for his father, his voice hushed in severe pain. There was the sound of his chest growing silent, and the boy's eyes could be seen drifting closed, and his skin going pale as a ghost._

_The likeliness of the boy surviving the accident were slim to none, but that was alright, because the boy knew that his father had to be dead, and if that's the way it was, then that's what he wanted to be as well._

_Then there's the image of the same boy jolting awake in a hospital room, an African-American boy and his mother sitting around his hospital room, overjoyed to see their close friend alive. The sounds of their joy could be heard, and the sounds of the suffering teenager's whimpers could be heard._

_The look on the injured boy's face expressed anguish; anguish so harsh looking that the man dreaming this horrible nightmare could barely stand the sight. The boy's expression said that he hadn't wanted to wake up, he didn't want to deal with the grief of losing his family, he didn't want to be alive. He wanted to know why whoever found him had saved his life._

_Then that same boy could be seen sitting in a dark corner of an empty room, tears falling from his cheeks and staining his pants. Thoughts ran through his head about the days when he used to be happy, and when he used to have a family. Now he felt completely alone. _

_By this rate, anyone would have preferred that the boy had died. Anyone could see that he was suffering now more than he ever had in his life. The boy was known for blaming himself so harshly. _

_Then the boy could be seen sitting next to a bottle of whiskey, holding a gun to his head. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and after thinking of what his life had become, the suffering teenager pulled the trigger; He was sick of the pain, sick of the hurt that he felt day-to-day. He was sick of waking up and feeling completely broken inside. He was sick of waking up and remembering that his father was dead and he only had himself left. He was sick of feeling the same things over and over again. He was sick of being reminded of everything every minute of every day. He was just sick of it all._

_Of course, the boy's actions only resulted in one lost soul searching for his father._

~…~

"TONY NO!" Howard yelled, jolting awake. He started breathing heavily.

Suddenly, a teenage boy with jet black hair, who had been studying five rings that were being held up by a piece of string, turned and looked down at the shaken prisoner in the cell.

"What is it now, old man?" The boy asked.

"My son…is…is he alright?" Howard asked. He was desperate to know.

"Stark is fine." The boy said, turning back to his rings. Howard thought for a moment before speaking again.

"I know why you're doing this, Gene."

Gene, puzzled by the statement, turned to Howard, a confused look on his face.

"What do you mean, you crazy old man?"

"I mean, I know why you think you need these rings. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it just the only thing you have left of your mother?"

This statement struck a chord inside Gene. He put the rings on quickly, grabbing Howard and pulling him up by his shirt collar.

"Don't you dare say anything like that again!" He threatened.

"Okay, I get it, sensitive subject…" Howard responded. Gene set him down and stomped off into the next room angrily, knowing inside that the old man was right.

Howard, of course, knew he was right too. But that didn't stop him from going back to sleep and visioning horrible nightmares about his son's tortured state of mind.

**Ik, I got a bit angsty there, but I'm pretty sure that's the worst this story's gonna get. So yes, if you were wondering, this story is, for the most part, not going to show Tony, Pepper or Rhodey or those peeps…kind of a different take on the series. Review?**


	2. Suffer Pt2

As Howard looked up at the misguided teenage boy hovering over his cell, he knew what the boy wanted.

"Come with me, old man," He said, sending down a ladder and opening the hatch that kept him down there. "We are going to the sixth Makluan temple."

Howard knew not to fight him. He'd tried that before; all he got was a 'if you don't cooperate with me I'll find your son, kill him and bring you his head.' And quite frankly, he didn't want to risk that.

"I must ask, what is so important about these rings that you need them this badly?" Howard asked.

"Because it is my birthright. I am the true Mandarin, and I am the only one who truly deserves to wear the rings of power." Gene explained, annoyed by the man's constant questions.

Howard nodded, acquiring a new level of understanding of how Gene had been misguided in his life. A broken promise, to put it simply.

Then as Gene finally placed his five rings on his fingers, thus transforming him into the Mandarin, he teleported himself and Howard to the sixth Makluan temple.

"So tell me, why do I have to help you?" Howard asked as they walked down the corridor that would lead them to the test and the sixth Makluan ring. Gene growled at his large amount of questions.

"Because I need your knowledge of the Makluan rings. It is valuable on my quest for all ten rings." Gene explained. Howard nodded.

"So basically I'm just helping you take over the world?"

"Yes."

"Ah. I see." Howard smirked. They reached the area where the ring and its guardian were held, and Gene shoved Howard forward.

"You will go first, Stark," He demanded. Howard swallowed, not being able to ignore the aching feeling in his gut that something was wrong with his son.

"What day is it?" Howard asked before moving forward.

"May sixth. Why?" Gene spat, annoyed.

"Today…today is my son's birthday…" Howard explained. He knew he'd been missing something. He'd been in captivity for almost a year, and quite frankly after a few weeks he'd lost track of time; and not too much longer after that, most of his hope as well.

"I do not care, Stark. Just go scope out that room." Gene demanded. Howard silenced himself and stepped into the room.

Howard sighed and moved forward. All he could think about was Tony. What was he doing right now, how was he celebrating his birthday? Does he think I'm dead? If so, has he made any new friends, and how is he doing at school? Has he dropped out? Is he doing well? Has he forgotten all about inventing, or does he waste all his free time in a lab?

These questions and more buzzed through Howard's mind. Billions of concerns and thoughts varying from optimistic to the worst he could imagine ran through his head, as well as every possible scenario that could have come out of a plane crash, an injured Stark boy and a potentially dead Stark boy's father.

What got at him most was how exactly his son survived a plane crash such as that one. He remembered Tony wanting to show him something, and he knew that must be the key to how he survived, but he didn't know what it was.

"How did my son survive the plane crash?" Howard asked.

"With a nearly indestructible suit of armor. Now shut your mouth and concentrate on the test, old man." Gene explained bitterly. Which led to more questions, of course. Questions concerning why Gene was so bitter towards Tony and what exactly had happened between them, but of course Howard knew to keep his mouth shut.

As the test began, Howard still couldn't help but focus on his son.

~…~

They had passed the test and gained the ring, and even returned home safely. But it wasn't really home, considering Howard was inside a vertical jail cell and miserable and sick.

Yes, sick. He felt weak beyond measure from being held captive for such a long time. He felt immeasurably weak and he had lost a large amount of strength. He found sometimes that he couldn't even stand up out of his cell on his own. The air in the bottom of the cell was so thin, and he kicked up dirt from the floor every time he moved. Not only that, but the food he received every day wasn't near close enough to the required level of nutrients to sustain healthy life. And he wasn't getting any exercise, which severely weakened his muscle tissue. He was like a baby duckling in a pond, waiting for an alligator to come along and snatch him away.

Howard wheezed in his cell and rested his back on the wall. In all honesty, the only way he knew he'd mustered the strength to accompany Gene to the sixth Makluan temple was to think of Tony, his dear son, who had probably suffered worse than himself by this point.

And in a way, he was wrong about that, because what did Tony gain but a valuable group of friends to keep him steady, a good future, good schooling and plenty of opportunities for himself and his friends, and on top of everything, a secret identity as a beloved superhero. And what did Howard have but an unforgiving and misguided teenage boy who had a deranged quest for power that he had been promised as a small boy. But Howard didn't realize how Tony had made out. And truthfully, Tony didn't have it all that much easier, because at least Howard knew that Tony had to live with the grief of knowing that the only family he had left was gone now and that he was all alone in the world. But, what Howard did not know was that Tony had ridden the downward spiral once more when he learned that his father was alive and that he had mistrusted someone, making himself look like an idiot.

As Howard drifted off to sleep, thoughts of Tony's suffering and possible outcomes of his side of the story drifted through his dreams.

**Okay, here's the scoop. This story started with me wanting to write something about Howard's suffering while he was kidnapped, and how it tormented him to know his son was probably dead and all that, and I realize that I plain suck at writing Makluan ring test sagas, so I should probably steer clear of that. So here's what I'm gonna do…**

**I'm most likely going to end up redoing the first chapter to touch more on that idea, and if anyone wants to pick up on what Howard and Gene have been doing regarding the Makluan ring tests that we haven't seen, feel free and message me about it. I just feel that I haven't gotten to the point of the tests, and I don't feel that I will.**

**I really do hate to just quit on a story, I'm really sorry guys! I'd love to pass it over to someone else after I modify it into a one-shot. But for now, stay tuned for future chapters of other stories. **

**Oh, yeah, and my link didn't show up all the way. So here it is again:**

**http:/**

**marvel.**

**toonzone.**

**net/**

**ironmananimated**

**/interviews**

**/auman3**

**.php**

**Now if THAT doesn't show up, I just don't know what will. So review!**


	3. Author's Note

**Okay, so, I'm going to give you the scoop on this story. I really just have no ideas for this story, and I only started it because I wanted to outline Howard's experiences while he was in captivity and searching for the rings with Gene, but I realized that I really can't do anything regarding the ring tests because I just can't seem to get any ideas. I hate to just quit on a story, I really do. **

**So here's what I'm going to do. I'm offering this story for adoption, and anyone interested in taking it off my hands can message me, and basically at the end of the month I'll see who I think is best fit to take over the story and they'll get to finish it. If no one messages me by the end of the month, I'm calling the story complete.**

**So, if you're interested, please message me! Sorry again for just quitting on this story!**


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